The Midnight Organ Fight

Having originally started as a solo project of singer-guitarist-lyricist Scott Hutchison in 2003, the band went on to release Sing the Greys - effectively an album of demos - in 2006 with a run of 1,000 copies.[6] After signing to independent label Fat Cat Records in 2007 after gradually building their reputation from word of mouth,[7] the band re-recorded several parts of the album and subsequently re-released it to serve as a "taster" for new material.[6] To record The Midnight Organ Fight, the band stayed with producer Peter Katis (The National, Interpol) for a month at his home studio in Connecticut.[6] Hutchison described the sessions as "hard work", having "spent really long days recording it".[7] Despite this, he praised the work of Katis for being able to "bring a sonic muscle to the songs, and a trademark atmosphere that is entirely his own. He kind of pulled us out of the indie rock basement into a more luscious soundscape. He has a great pop sensibility".[8]

Speaking of his writing for the album, Hutchison explained that, "it’s usually the music first, and I hum and sing syllables to feel out the rhythm and melody, then I finally write the words. Most songs just arrive the way they do by accident, and its certainly not particularly contrived. It’s very important to move the listener and I feel that is music's main goal: to make another human feel something."[8] When asked about his guitar work on the record, the frontman said that, "I really love the challenge of 22 frets, 6 strings and seeing what I could do with that. As opposed to stepping on a pedal to change the music, you know, there's such a wide range of sounds that you can get from a guitar and it's fun to get different ones every time you pick it up".[7] Lyrically, Hutchison stated that "most of the lyrics are pretty direct" and that the album "almost spells out what’s happened".[6] Regarding the personal nature of the lyrics, Scott states that he couldn't "really write about anything else, and I can still visualise the events in each song, which perhaps makes the delivery more genuine".[8] The artwork for the album was also done solely by Hutchison, having spent four years at Art School; "I didn't particularly want to be an illustrator so I wanted to apply the rules that I learnt to everything I do, in terms of working in a bank or writing music".[7]

The Midnight Organ Fight found itself in several "must have" lists that were compiled by various music publications, networks, and other media in the years following its release.[9] Bill Cummings of God Is in the TV opined that the band had managed to, "step up to embrace a more luscious sound showcasing their unique ability (unlike many bands) to make personal experience connect on an almost anthemic, universal level. Scott’s songs convey candid tales of ordinary folk with a wry, acerbic wit via an eloquent, emotive, modern garage-pop aesthetic".[8] Drowned in Sound ranked the album at number two in their "Best Albums of 2008" list with Alexander Tudor writing, "Fact: Casual Listeners will buy what they’re told, if it’s got tunes and a catchphrase, which means the airwaves are always polluted with inanities, and we assume the norm is natural. But Word-of-Mouth means something, it means you're kept listening, maybe it means you loved that album, you felt like it was yours, and the votes you chose to send-in tell us the Not-So-Casual listener does care for the words s/he listens to; in this case, an album about breaking-up and f*cking-up, with the grisliest imagery since Arab Strap, and a moral complexity eclipsing Belle & Sebastian".[32] It ranked at number twenty seven on The Fly's end-of-year album list, with Stephen Brolan stating, "The Midnight Organ Fight may be a bitter, bitter account of relationships ending, but it is also one of the year's most sheerly loveable and entertaining albums. Pop brilliance and emotional turmoil perfectly synthesised."[33] The Midnight Organ Fight also appeared in NMEs end-of year list at number thirty six,[34] as well as being included in their "Greatest Albums of the Decade" article. In the latter, Barry Nicholson opined, "It’s a dark tunnel, but this record is worth it".[35] Finbarr Bermingham of The Skinny named the album as the fourth best in Scotland between 2000-2009. He noted, "Trying to pick an album highlight has been an exercise in futility. Over the course of 18 months, any one of ten tracks has suggested itself as a contender. The song-writing here is accumulative: borrowing from a range of styles to create a near perfect whole; a flawless indie-pop record".[31] American magazine Treble, while including the album in their "Best Albums of the 00s" list, said that the band, "blew the doors wide open with the epic, emotionally charged, The Midnight Organ Fight. If there's an album from 2008 with more fantastic melodies, I certainly haven't heard it. To paraphrase their own lyrics, they're much better than ever."[36] The album also received end-of-year inclusions from various other media including Alternative Ulster,[37] The A.V. Club,[38] Magnet,[39] Lost at Sea,[40] Pitchfork Media,[41] and The Village Voice.[42]

• "The Twist", "Keep Yourself Warm" and "My Backwards Walk" were featured in season 2, episodes 1 and 7, and season 3, episode 1, respectively, of the NBC show Chuck.
• "Good Arms Vs Bad Arms" was featured in episode 14 of series 4 of Grey's Anatomy and in episode 6 of season 6 of One Tree Hill.
• "Poke" was featured in episode 1 of Season 6 of One Tree Hill.
• "My Backwards Walk" was featured in episode 13 of Season 6 of One Tree Hill.
• "Old Old Fashioned" was featured in a 2010 UK National Lottery advert.

All lyrics written by Scott Hutchison; music composed by Frightened Rabbit, except where noted.[45]

The following personnel contributed to The Midnight Organ Fight:[45]

Frightened Rabbit

• Scott Hutchison – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, lyrics, artwork
• Billy Kennedy – lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards
• Grant Hutchison – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Production

• Peter Katis – producer, engineer, mixing
• Alan Douches – mastering
• Jeremy Backofen – assistant engineer
• Kevin McMahon – assistant engineer
• Greg Giorgio – assistant engineer
• Dave Thomas – layout

To mark the 10th anniversary of The Midnight Organ Fight, the band decided to approach musician friends and touring mates in order to record covers of the entire album. The covers album was planned for release in Summer 2018, but the project was delayed following the death of Scott Hutchison, and came out in July 2019 with the title Tiny Changes: A Celebration of Frightened Rabbit’s ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’. The tracks have all been recorded before Hutchison's passing and were approved by him; he had also worked on the album's cover art. The album features liner notes from the remaining members of Frightened Rabbit as well as the participating artists.[46]

Speaking about the release, Grant Hutchison noted: "That album did a lot for us personally, it did a lot for us as a band, it did a lot for people who heard it 10 years ago and a lot for people since... Everyone on [the compilation] has played a part in our personal life and our careers. We're telling a story of an album, and the best way to do that is to have the people who have shared it with you over the years tell their side almost, you know? Their interpretation of that album, it's as important. When you release an album, it's not yours anymore. Once it's out there, it belongs to everyone else. This was a nice way to hear what the people we toured with, our peers, what it meant to them".[47]

In August 2020, Biffy Clyro released a Record Store Day 7" entitled Moderns, which included their versions of "The Modern Leper" and David Bowie's "Modern Love", with proceeds going to the mental health charity Tiny Changes.[48]